Startups working in either gaming or application development from 19 different African countries can participate in the contest that offers grants totalling $60,000.

The African App Launchpad Cup is striving to set a global stage for thriving early-stage startups to present to hundreds of regional and international investors and VCs.

“We are excited to launch the African App Launchpad Cup, which will allow us to educate young African calibres and spur their innovation on the latest app and games technology, in addition, to support the creation of job opportunities for African youth”, Clarified Hala El-Gohary, CEO of ITIDA.

“It is such a pleasure to be able to host the first African pitch competition with ITIDA in the region during RiseUp Summit. This is a step towards achieving our vision of creating more opportunities in the entrepreneurship ecosystem by connecting more stakeholders to the community in Africa.

“We would like to thank ITIDA for launching and sponsoring the competition and becoming the supporting arm behind the growth of Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem,” Abdelhameed Sharara, Founder and CEO of RiseUp, says.

The African App Launchpad Cup is not only Africa-wide pitch competition for startups but also a valuable learning experience for participating entrepreneurs.

The participating startups will get the chance to join an accelerator program and will be granted exhibition spaces during the RiseUp Summit.

1.) An acceleration program for selected startups who will be invited to pitch at RiseUP Summit 2019.

2.) Cash prize with a total of $60k for six winners, divided as follows, per each track:

i) $15k for the first

ii) $10k for the second

iii) $5k for the third

3.) Full participation at RiseUp Summit 2019 in Cairo, Egypt with a branded booth.

4.) Certified Training Grants for all team members of the startups/teams through the AAL initiative.

Applications are now open for startups until November 18th. The startups will compete on December 7th and the winners will be announced in alignment with RiseUp summit; MENA’s largest annual entrepreneurship event at The American University in Cairo, new Campus.